Stretcher



`pri-lv12,l1932f. l A. L. T. JOHNSON 1,854,037

STRETCHER Filed April 25, 1950 Patented Apr. l2, 1932 UNITEDSTATES- ALBERT L. T. JOHNSON, or WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS STRETGHER vApplication filed April 25, 1930. Serial No. 447,374.

5 dation for a new surface.

The principal objectsof the invention are to provide a neat and convenient tool for this purpose having means by which it can be held conveniently in position to accomplish the desired object; to provide the same with means for graspin the sheet of material and stretching it out at;y to provide convenient means for operating it; to provide means whereby when the sheet is stretched and nailed or tacked in place the stretching device can be thrown out of gear by very simple manipulation to permit its removal and to provide improved mechanism for accomplishing these several objects.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter. n

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side viewof a preferred embodiment of the invention shown in position for operation; i Y Fig. 2 is a sectional View on the line 2 2 of Fig. l showing more fully the position of the parts and illustrating the stretching of the fabric;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the gearand operating mechanism; i

Fig. 4 is a central sectional'view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the outer or lower end of the operating handle, and

Fig. 6 is la side view, as indicated by the arrow 6in Fig. l, of the ratchetand its op.

erating device.

When anew surface for the ceiling or wall has to be placed Yin a room it is customary to stretch a fabric along the same and attach it to furring pieces attached to the old wall. This stretching operation has to, be done by the space behind it. This is usually half an Yinch wide but the tool is made in accordance fastening one end of the fabric at one end of the wall or ceiling and stretching the fabric from that end to the opposite end and then applying enough vpull to the fabric to stretch it out flat. Heretofore this has been an inconvenient method and a great deal of time Vhas been wasted in getting the fabric into a tightly stretched and smooth condition. This tool is designed forvthe purpose of accomplishing this purposein a very ex- 55 peditious way andproviding an improved result. i

F urring strips 10 are attached at intervals on the ceiling transverse to the fabric `11 which is tobe applied. The end of the fabric, .50

not shown herein, is attached to the furring piece at the opposite end of the room by means oftacks or the like and it has to be I stretched so it can be tacked to the furring piece l1() near one wall. To accomplish this `65 readily this tool has been designed. l It comprises a frame 12 having a horizon# v tal surface 13 to rest under the last furring piece 10 and two projections'141tting in with the conditions existing and these .two projections 14 are intended to fit in this. space and help hold the tool in position. 'l

The frame 12 is provided with two uprights 15, one solid and the other "bifurcated, of

vwhich. the projections 14 constitute4 a part.

They'are connected by an integral cross'brace as shown in Fig. 1 which may take that form ifdesired. Mounted in vsuitable bearings on .80 the two uprights 15 are the end studsof a l roll 16. This rolleXtends from. one of these uprights to theother and is provided with pins or projections 17 to engage the fabric and enable the fabricto be wound upon it as indicated in Fig. 2;v 5.

l On the stud at one end,l preferably at the right end of the roll 16, is a gear 18. V,This gear 18'meshes with a gear19V which `is keyed on the hub of a ratchet wheel 21. This ratchet o B4 on one of the uprights.

wheel is loose on a shaft 20. The shaft 2O has its bearings in the bifurcated upright 15. The ratchet wheel has an enlarged cylindrical portion 22 on which is loosely and pivotally mounted a frame 23 so that this frame can be swung on the axis of these elements. This frame 23 is provided with a hollow handle 24- screwed into it for oscillating it about the sh aft 20. At the bottom of this handle 24 is a knurled head 25 fixed to a hub 26 oscillatably mounted in the end of the handle. This hub has a cam groove 27 and a rod 28 inside the handle has a pin 29 projecting into this cam groove. Therefore the head 25 can be turned to the right of Fig. 5, or it can .be pulled down, and in either case the 'rod 28 will be pulled down with it against the resistance of a spring 30 which is located under, and presses on, a head 31 on the rod `insidethe frame 23. This head 31 is provided with an extension 'having a ratchet pawl 32 which normally engages with the ratchet 21. The head 81 and pawl 32 are in one piece preferably and the spring 30 of course tends to push `the pawl in toward the ratchet teeth, the rod 28 and head 3l being fixed together.

` The oscillation of the handle as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 intermittently rotates `the :ratchet wheel and consequently the gearing described and the roll 16. This rotation 'is carried on until the desired amount of stretch is secured and then the piece of fabric 11 is in the proper position. The part that comes under the furring piece 10 is tacked 'to it.

While the tacking is going on it is desirable obviously that the roll should not turn.

This roll can be locked against turning b ya toothed plunger 33 mounted ina small casing This plunger is provided 'with a spring 35 for pushing'it in.

Onthe end of the plunger is a cam 36. This ltoothed plunger is shaped to have a slant on one side and a substantially radial surface on the other so that the gear -19 can be operated bythe ratchet in one direction, that is, the direction for the winding up of the fabric' on the roller, and itprevents the roller turning backward. Now when the cloth is stretched as much as desired this tooth holds it against being loosened.

When the tacking is completed the operator manipulates the knurled head 25 in either of the way-s indicated which pulls the rod 28 down, pulls the pawl 32 out of the ratchet wheel 21 and through a headed projection 37,

sticking out from the side of the extension on the rod through the frame 23, engages the cam 36 Vand pulls the'tooth 33 back out of the'teeth ofthe gear 19. `Ther-e is nothing left to prevent the turning lof these gears by hand, preferably through the roll 16, to loosen "everything up so that the fabric can be out off atv the right of the furring piece 10 andA the `vt'ol' removed.

I have shown an adjustable stop 38 for preventing the handle from moving too far toward the adjacent wall. I have shown a 4screw 40 extending inwardly from the frame 23 against the cylindrical hub or bearing 22 to prevent the element composed of the part 19 and 22 from being detached.

It will be seen that the device provides effective means for stretching the fabric as much as may be desired for holding the fabric in stretched position while it is being tacked and then for releasing the gears so that the fabric can be cut oif and the tool removed.

It will be seen also that the tool is of a convenient character, can be held in position very simply, 'and that the spacing of the furring piece from the wall as is usual is taken advantage of to assist in holding the tool in place on the vertical wall of a room and to line it up properly with the wall and furring piece. The tool is very easily manipulated and there is little chance of getting the fabric stretched more onone edge than on the other or otherwise getting it into an uneven wrinkled position.

Although I have illustrated and described only a single form of the invention I am aware of the fact that modifications can be made therein by` any person skilled in the are without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore I do not wish to 'be limited in this repect but what I do claim is :e

1. In a tool for stretching a fabric or the like, a combination with a frame having a single `upright at one end and a bifurcated upright at the other, said uprights having bearings, of a roll having teeth thereon having its studs mounted in said bearings, a shaft supported by the bifurcated upright, a gear on one of the studs of said-roll, a ratchet wheel on said shaft, a gear fixed to the ratchet wheel and meshing with the first named gear, a handle oscillatable about said shaft as a center, a spring-pressed pawl engaging the teeth of said ratchet wheel for intermittently rotating the ratchet Wheel and roll as the handle is ocillated, and r-eleasable means for holding the roll against turning.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a frame and a roll mounted to turn freely thereon, of a shaft, a ratchet wheel freely mounted on the shaft, means connected with the ratchet wheel for turning the roll, a second frame oscillatable about said shaft as a center, a handle fixed to the second frame for operating the machine, a spring-pressed rod extending through said handle and having a pawl adapted to engage the ratchet wheel, means at the extreme end of the handle for pulling the rod back against the action of the spring and removing the pawl'from the ratchet wheel,

a projection extending through the frame and connected lwiththe pawl and rod, a

spring-pressed tooth movably mounted on the first frame Jfor engaging the gear, said tooth being shaped to allow the gear to rotate in one direction and to prevent its rotating in the other, and a cam connected with saidtooth in position to be pulled back by said projection When the rod is retracted to pull the tooth out of the gear and leave the gear all free for disconnection.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto axed my signature.

ALBERT L. T. JOHNSON. 

